


Subverting Expectations

by firefright, Skalidra



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alpha Dick Grayson, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Gender Roles, Intersex Omegas, M/M, Omega Jason Todd, Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-05-18 13:36:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19335586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefright/pseuds/firefright, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skalidra/pseuds/Skalidra
Summary: During what was supposed to be an ordinary prisoner escort mission, Dick finds himself suddenly betrayed by those who are supposed to be his friends and allies. For what reason, he doesn't know, but after narrowly escaping the attempt on his life, he's forced to set out across country in a desperate bid to make it home, while also making an unexpected ally in the form of Jason, an escaped prisoner who has his own motivations for keeping Dick safe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all. This one is the fault of the SladeRobin discord server (despite being a JayDick fic) and also Game of Thrones. We're sure you'll be able to guess why after reading XD Hope you enjoy!

Burrs and brambles snag at Dick’s cloak as he flees the scene of the carnage, running further and deeper into the shadows of the forest than any sane man rightly would. Yet he has no other choice, for as much as honour and instinct would rather have him stand and fight the threat behind him, he also rationally knows that the only thing waiting for him should he slow or go back is death.

The threat had come out of nowhere, and worse, from within the ranks of the other men serving beside him. For six months now, Dick has done as Bruce asked him, serving out a tour of duty on their country’s borders. It was a rite of passage for any noble born alpha to do so, and at least so far, he’d enjoyed the chance to serve and defend his homeland despite the dangers that accompanied it. Certainly, it made him feel more useful than sitting at home learning politics from Alfred ever had.

It must be some kind of plot being enacted, he decides, for the way half of the patrol he’d been with had suddenly turned on the other while they sat and ate their evening’s meal by the fire can surely have no other explanation. But why is the question. Why would they do that, cutting down their brethren with no warning or hesitation? It had been a slaughter, and the only reason Dick himself had managed to survive those first bloodthirsty minutes was because he’d chosen to sit further away from the center of camp than most.

If he’d been just two seconds slower to react, he’d be dead now. But as it is…

Dick winces as he hears shouts go up behind him, a clear sign that the killers are still on his tail. Pushing his already burning muscles to capacity, he forces himself to run faster. Every tree looks the same as he passes it, every shadow like an enemy. He has no idea where he’s going, but if he can just outpace them enough to give himself some breathing space—

A weight suddenly impacts Dick’s side with all the force of a runaway carriage, sending him careening off the faint animal track on which he’d been running and into the line of bushes beside it. He crashes through the branches with that weight on top of him, then, surprisingly, down further than what he would have thought into a shallow ditch that must have been hidden behind them. Reflexively, Dick opens his mouth to yell from the shock and pain of it, only for a hand to clamp itself over his mouth before he can utter so much as a single syllable.

“Quiet!” a voice, male and urgent, hisses in his face. It’s too dark for Dick to make out the features of the one behind it at this angle, but the growing volume of the shouts from the direction of the camp make it difficult to argue with the order.

He can hear footsteps, too, thundering along the path he was so recently forced to vacate. Heavy, booted feet, and the clanking of light armour. Together, he and the one pinning him down hold their collective breath as the soldiers pass by. Dick can feel water soaking through his cloak and into the back of his shirt and trousers, cold and uncomfortable, and he can’t help but shudder at being forced to endure the sensation until the forest once more grows quiet around them.

“There,” the man mutters, “I think they’re gone now.” He apparently turns his head back to Dick after looking up towards the path. “I’m going to take my hand away and get off you now, but keep your voice down, regardless. Nod if you understand me.”

Dick frowns at the tone. Now that he’s hearing more of it, he notices there’s also an unfamiliar lilt to the man’s accent as well.

Slowly, he nods.

“Good.” First, the hand withdraws from his mouth, then the rest of the man’s weight. As he kneels in the mud next to Dick, and Dick himself also manages to sit up, his features become more clear in what faint beams of moonlight make it through the tree branches overhead. They’re startlingly familiar, but unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons.

“You!” Dick exclaims, “You’re—”

Before he can finish that sentence, the hand is back over his mouth again, this time accompanied by a low, warning growl. “I said be quiet, idiot! Do you want to bring them back down on us?”

Dick winces. He hadn’t meant to be so loud, yet he can’t get over the shock of his rescuer’s identity. Not after the confusion of being betrayed by those who are supposed to be his allies.

“I’m going to take my hand away again,” the man warns. “Try not to yell this time.”

“You…” Dick says once he’s done so, much more quietly than before, “You’re one of the prisoners. The ones we were escorting from the border.”

It was the entire reason he and his squad had been out here in the first place. A special order to take a group of the barbarians who had been caught trespassing into their land to a more secure facility where they would await sentencing. Last Dick had saw, the group had still been securely tied up and picketed at the edge of the camp. How then, had this man gotten loose?

“Good observation,” the man says, dryly. He’s wearing an outfit of brown leather and grey fur, that’s both dull and dreary, as well as perfectly camouflaging him against the dark forest, which is how Dick could not have seen him before he was pounced upon. “Anything else obvious you want to point out?”

He bristles, squaring his shoulders on reflex. “How the hell did you get here?”

“What, no thanks for saving your life?” The man rolls his eyes. “Your lot aren’t very smart. All I had to do was flutter my eyelashes a little and make some pretty noises and one of your ‘friends’ back there was stumbling all over himself to get at me. If we survive this, you might want to tell your commanders to rethink sending out all-alpha teams after us all the time.”

“What?”

He doesn’t understand. Which is not to say Dick didn’t hear the words, just that they don’t make sense to him in the order they’re in. He frowns harder at the man, put even more on the defense by his strange comments. “Listen, I don’t what kind of joke you think you’re making…”

“Joke?” The man raises his eyebrows. “Gods, all you northern alphas really are dense. How about we move while you get things through your thick skull so they don't walk right into us coming back, alright?"

Dick means to argue, at least the part of it, but before he can the man is shoving him further down the ditch. “Hey! I can walk on my own, you know.”

“Then prove it. By walking. _Quickly_.”

Dick feels a growl of his own press against the back of his teeth, but in the name of immediate survival, pushes it back down for now. “Why are you helping me?” he asks.

The man moves to walk beside him. He’s a little taller than Dick is, with messy black hair that curls at the ends and blue eyes. Handsome, for another alpha, he thinks, before pausing to wonder where that thought came from. “I’ll tell you once we’re out of here and relatively safe.”

“Relatively?”

“We’re in the woods, miles from what either of us could consider allies. Relative is the best we’re going to get.”

Good point, Dick thinks, before looking down and focusing on where he’s putting his feet. The mud is thick down here, and he dreads to think what his back must look like now after he was forced to lay in it. He doesn’t want to fall and end with a matching front, too.

“At least tell me what your name is.”

That seems harmless enough to ask for now, and indeed, he gets an answer without hesitation. “Jason.”

“I’m Dick.”

“Really? How apt.”

Dick rolls his eyes. He’s heard that and every other insult someone can make out of his name a hundred times before already, Jason joining in on the game hardly bothers him. “Do you even know where you’re going?”

“For now, wherever this ditch leads. We’ll figure out the rest later. Just stay quiet.”

Quiet, sure. He can do quiet. Dick bites the inside of his cheek as they walk, trying to sort through his still panicked and muddled thoughts. He doesn’t know if he can trust this, not after what just happened, and with Jason being one of the enemy. For all that he saved his life, there’s an equal chance he could be lying about where they’re going and leading Dick to where his own people are lying in wait, ready to catch him in turn. Yet he can’t go back, either, and as for his chances if he runs off into the forest alone…

“You’re thinking too loud, pretty boy.”

Dick jolts as Jason stops, knocking him back into reality with a jab from his elbow. “Excuse me?”

“I said you’re thinking too loud. Also, I think we’re good to stop for a moment now, so take a deep breath and try not to panic anymore, all right?”

“I am not panicking.”

“You smell like you are.” Jason answers, easily, looking him up and down. Automatically, Dick’s sniffs, trying to catch a hint of his scent in turn, but it’s elusive, and all he gets instead is a strong whiff of the tallow that the southerners are known for smearing on their skin to help conceal themselves. It makes them hard to track. “At least trust that I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of saving you before only to harm you now.”

“I do trust that, but what I don’t trust is your intentions after.” Dick answers, carefully moving another step to put a little more distance between them. “Not until you tell me why you did it at all.”

Jason folds his arms across his chest as he watches him. “Fine. I did it because I need your help, and right now, you also need mine.”

“My help?” he asks, “What do you need my help for?”

“To save the rest of my people.”

Dick blinks. “You mean those other prisoners who were with you?”

“Who else?” Jason looks exasperatedly at him, and Dick almost expects another attack upon his intelligence before he continues, “Those ones who turned on you, I overheard two of them discussing their plan while they were getting ready to transport us. The targets were you and the other two badge wearing alphas in your unit.”

The other two… sons of other noble houses, also on a tour of duty like Dick is. He swallows; he doesn’t think they made it out. “But why?”

“Hell if I know, they didn’t talk about that part. All I know is they’re planning to blame my people for it.” Jason glares at him. “Going to say a bunch of us managed to get free and kill the lot of you while you were sleeping. Seeing as how you all think we’re a bunch of violent savages, no one’s going to argue that, or listen to my group if they try to argue it. They’ll just execute them.”

He’s not wrong, Dick thinks. Provided he’s not lying, of course. “So what do you want me to do about it? Go back there and try to rescue them? That’s two of us against twelve, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“I’m not stupid, pretty boy, I know the odds,” Jason responds, flashing teeth at him. “But no, that’s not why I rescued you. I did it because I know people like you are important in your land, and if I keep you alive, you can tell the rest of them the truth of what happened and they’ll believe you.”

Dick can’t quite conceal his surprise at the plan. It’s more thoughtful than he would have expected from an alpha of Jason’s attitude and appearance. But then, he can also hear Bruce berating him in the back of his mind for making such assumptions in the first place. People are rarely what they seem at first glance.

“That could work,” he admits. “If we get to someone important enough to stop it in time.”

Jason’s eyes brighten at the admittance. “Do you know who that would be?”

“I have an idea.” Bruce, mostly, someone Dick can trust to listen to him and act for the good of others no matter who they are. “But getting to them fast enough will be difficult.”

“How difficult?”

“Have you heard of Gotham?”

Jason frowns again. “It’s one of your cities, not far from the border.”

Not far, if you mean about 200 miles across rough terrain. By horseback, it would take them less than a week, particularly if they could travel by road. But seeing as how they’re stuck on foot for now, they’re looking at more like two weeks, and add to that the fact they also have no supplies…

Gods, they’ll be lucky if they do it in three.

Pushing down his worries, Dick nods. “That’s where we’d need to go.”

“Are you sure there’s nowhere closer?”

“Not with anyone I’d trust.” This time it’s his turn to glare. “If we get there, I can speak to my father, and he can send a raven to the governor of the prison your friends are being taken to. They’ll listen to his word far more than they would mine alone, and we could also be sure there’d be no more of these conspirators waiting there for us.”

Jason curses. “Then I guess we better get moving. All right, come here.”

Dick doesn’t move. “Why?”

“Those clothes of yours stand out too much,” Jason answers, crouching down and reaching a gloved hand into the mud. “You look like a damn cock-pheasant prancing around the woods. If we want to make it far, we need to change that.”

He takes another step away from him. “You are not coating me in mud.”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Jason says, advancing on him now with a handful of it. “So stop acting like a stubborn pup and hold still.”

Dick has an uncomfortable flashback to his mother saying the exact same thing to him when he was little, though of course she was talking about getting him clean, not dirty. “Look, just because you saved me doesn’t mean you’re the one in charge here.”

“Doesn’t it?” Jason looks unimpressed. “You’ve not done anything to convince me otherwise, yet. Besides, you’re an alpha.”

“Yes, of course I’m an alpha,” Dick says impatiently. “Just like—” He stops, stares. “Wait, you’re not?”

“Gods,” Jason mutters, only just loud enough for him to hear. “That took you long enough, didn’t it?”

“Wait…” Dick blinks, staring up at Jason’s height, the thickness of his shoulders, the clearly _alpha_ stature of him. In vain, he tries to take a deep enough breath to get Jason’s scent, but there’s nothing. Only more of the tallow, masking his scent along with any other clue of what he is. “You’re messing with me.”

“What possible reason would I have to do that?”

“I don’t know!” Dick grits his teeth, “What are you, a beta?”

“Why are the pretty ones always dumb?” Jason sighs, exasperated as he uses Dick’s distraction to slap the handful of mud against his shirt. “Try again, moron.”

No way. No way is he…

“You’re an _omega_?”

“Yes, obviously.” Jason meets his eyes, “So settle down and stand still for me.”

That doesn’t make sense. Not only does Jason’s stature not match up with that of any omega Dick’s ever met before, but his attitude and behaviour don’t either. He’s bold, brash and outspoken, and the way he’s trying to take charge of the situation with an unfamiliar alpha like it’s what’s expected of him only confuses Dick further.

Omegas don’t do that, and what one was even doing out in the wilderness with a band of raiders in the first place…

Dick slaps Jason’s hand away from his chest as he goes to smear another handful of mud on. “Stop that!”

"I said stand still!" Jason snaps back, teeth flashing and Dick flashes his own right back before he even thinks about it.

"No! You haven’t got any right to give me orders!"

Jason's shoulders square as he leans forward just a little, stance shifting a bit wider. "Okay, you know what? Last I checked I'm the one that saved _your_ life, I'm the one that got you moving when you were going to stand there and argue till we got caught, and _I'm_ the one trying to make sure you don't get spotted from halfway across the whole forest! I get that your fancy colors make you feel nice, pretty boy, but we haven't got time for your vain bullshit, got it?"

“I am not being vain!” This time Dick growls, pouring as much authority into his voice as he can. “And I’m not some kid for you to boss around either. Back off, omega.”

Shock ripples across Jason’s face, easily visible even in the dim light, and for a moment, Dick thinks he’s finally got control of the situation. Except then, an answering growl rolls out to meet his own, surprisingly deep and powerful.

“Back. Down. Now,” Jason warns him.

“No,” Dick replies, bewildered as much as trying to stand his ground.

“ _Fine._ ” The next thing Dick knows, there’s a ringing pain in his head, and he’s stumbling back as Jason shoves him roughly back across the wet ground. “You want to act like a child? Then I’ll go ahead and treat you like one.”

“Wha—”

Before he can react further, Jason’s hand is suddenly fisting in the front of his tunic, and Dick has only a split second’s realisation of what he’s about to do before he’s doing it. Completely off balance from the first shove, he has no way to save himself from being yanked forward, nor from the way his feet slip out from under him at the sudden change in direction, and just like that, the muddy ground is rushing up to meet him.

“Fuck!” he swears as he hits the ground, mud splattering not just up the front of him, but onto his face and in his mouth, too. Dick spits heavily to get rid of it, before shoving himself back up with his elbows. “You bastard!”

“I warned you,” Jason says. “Now, c’mon, stop being stupid and—”

Dick reaches out and grabs for his ankle, yanking on it as hard as he can. Maybe it’s petty in this situation, but he can’t help the pleasure he feels at turning the tables on Jason, even as he scrambles to get on top of him the second he’s fallen.

Jason kicks at him, but it’s aimed wide enough that it only grazes his hip as he jerks out of the way, tilting his body instead of throwing him off. Jason catches his hands as he tries to grab him, grappling with more strength than Dick would expect from any omega and keeping him from getting any decent grip. He gets on top of him, but immediately Jason's bucking his hips up, nearly destabilizing him and sending his knees sliding in the mud and him pitching forward.

They crash together, Jason giving a grunt when Dick's forehead catches the edge of his chin. With his nose suddenly against Jason's shoulder, he gets his first real whiff of scent past the harshness of the tallow. Rich spice is the only impression he can identify before Jason snarls, "Get _off_ me," and bucks up again, almost sending them rolling before Dick bears all his weight down into his chest.

The hand holding his left one at bay lets go. A swell of victory makes him grab Jason's shoulder instead, getting a good grip in the fur covering it, right before a fist slams into the side of his head. He yelps, recoiling enough that the next heave of Jason's hips knocks him off balance and lets Jason roll them over. One of his hands gets slammed into the mud next to his head, the other wrenched away from its grip at Jason's shoulder.

"Knock it off!" Jason snaps, weight pressing hard down into him. "I swear to the gods—”

Dick doesn't wait for the end of the sentence, he just locks his thighs high up enough around Jason's hips that he can dig his knees into his ribs, and wrenches against the holds on his wrists to free them. Jason breaks off with a hiss at the pressure into his sides, flinching back, and that's enough of a break in the weight for Dick to get one hand free, then slam an open palm into the elbow of the arm holding his other down. It buckles and the fingers loosen, giving him the chance to get that one free too.

He bares his teeth and strikes, landing one hard punch high on Jason's chest, then a second. The force is enough, even through the leather armor woven in and around and the fur, to knock the breath out of him in an audible rush. A heave of his thighs starts to roll them again, but Jason bears down on him with a breathless snarl and stops it, dropping down too close for him to get any more good shots in. An elbow digs into his shoulder, those teeth almost in his face.

Dick doesn't think, he just sees the opening and takes it.

Jason gives a shocked yelp when his teeth sink into the exposed sliver of his neck, above the fur but below the line of his jaw. Dick growls into the mouthful of skin, as a hand grabs onto his shoulder and digs in tight enough to hurt. He can feel the settling in his chest as he curls his fingers into fur and holds tight, sinking into his victory as he feels the breath come short and sharp against his shoulder. Jason shudders, and Dick slowly eases his bite.

There. He wins, and this stranger isn't going to be ordering him around like he's some brainless idiot anymore.

He relaxes back down, loosening his hold on both the fur of the armor and the clamp of his legs. His gaze turns to Jason's face. There's exactly one second for him to process that the expression there is _anger_ instead of surrender before Jason rears back and then snaps forward to _crack_ their heads together. Dick cries out in pain at the slam of Jason's forehead right between his eyes and against his nose. He's stunned, and it only takes Jason a second to shove up far enough to yank him onto his side underneath him.

He starts to jerk away, throwing an arm out to push Jason away, and a hand grabs the back of his neck. It _scruffs_ him, nails digging in as it pulls the layer of skin and muscle over the back of his neck into a painful grab, forcing a second, shocked cry from his throat.

The sound Jason makes then goes straight to the core of his brain, a short, sharp bark of displeasure that Dick only ever remembers hearing two or three times in his whole life. Disappointment and _anger_ , in a warning to stop whatever he's doing _right now_.

He stiffens, barely breathes as he tries to reconcile that sound and the grip on the scruff of his neck. He's an _adult_ , he's not— not—

"We. Do not. _Bite._ " Jason spits down at him. "Is that clear?"

Dick forces himself to drag in a breath, through the tight stiffness of his chest. "Let go," he manages, a little weakly. "Not my parent. Not—”

Jason makes that same noise, and Dick draws even tighter, his brain flashing back to Alfred doing that to him. His _mother_.

"As long as you're behaving like an idiot child that can't keep his teeth to himself, I will _fucking_ treat you like one." Jason shakes him slightly, leans in closer and growls, "You _do not bite me_. Got that?"

Dick trembles, hand digging into the mud. The fingers dig in a little harder against his neck. "Okay," he gasps, "okay. I won't."

Jason holds him for a moment longer, then finally lets go. He stands, as Dick rolls onto his back, breathing sharp, deep breaths as the tightness in his chest starts to ease. Only starts. He still feels cowed, wary of angering the omega any further. He doesn't… He hasn't heard that sound aimed at him since he was a child. Only when he'd done something stupid. Something reckless that could have hurt him, or someone else.

He looks up, to where Jason is standing over him, eyes narrowed, shoulders squared. One hand rises to point down at him, clearly threatening. "You're going to shut up, you're going to do what I tell you, and I'm going to get us out of this alive." The hand uncurls, offering the palm to him. "Can you do that?"

Dick stares, then slowly, takes the hand. Jason pulls him to his feet. They’re both covered in mud now.

"We want to cover as much ground as possible tonight, before they've got light to follow us by. We go as far as we can, make tracking us hard as possible, and don’t stop until we have to." Jason studies him, gaze sweeping down across the length of his torso. "Think you can keep up?"

He swallows, and carefully nods. “Yeah. I can keep up.”

“Good. Then let’s go.”

Jason starts to walk, and keeping his head down, Dick quickly follows him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, hope you're ready for some more lovely culture clash misadventures with this one XD Enjoy!

They walk a long time through the dark, following a path only Jason seems to see. For himself, Dick has no idea even what direction they’re heading in, just that they’re making progress and they’re making it fast.

At first, cowed by how solidly Jason had beaten him, he continues to keep his head down, focusing on his feet and nothing else, but then, as time goes on, he can’t help but look up again and wonder more about his rescuer. Jason had so obviously _expected_ to lead the minute they met, and not only that, he’s clearly experienced at doing so as well. Never in his life has Dick met another omega like that before, and despite himself, it makes him want to know more about him. The how’s and why’s of how he came to be this way.

But the time while they’re walking doesn’t exactly lend itself to conversation. Dick doesn’t think Jason would indulge him now even if he tried, which is understandable, considering what he did earlier. His face is starting to ache more, too, as the night goes on, and he knows he’ll have a hell of a bruise there come tomorrow.

He wishes he could say he doesn’t deserve it, but the walk also gives him more time to reflect on his behaviour from earlier, and it’s impossible not to admit that he could have handled the situation better. Or at the very least, paid attention to the practicality of Jason’s words and saved the rest of his concerns for later, once they were out of immediate danger.

He’d just… the shock of the betrayal from his unit, seeing the deaths of the others and only narrowly escaping with his own life from it… Dick can still feel the horror ringing in the back of his head. The confusion and need for understanding.

He’d thought those people were his _friends_.

“All right,” Jason says eventually, “We can stop here and rest for a bit.”

Dick blinks. They’ve come to what appears to be a small clearing in the forest, and as he looks above the canopy of the trees, he can see what he thinks are the first rays of dawn starting to appear in the sky. It sinks in then how long they’ve been moving; almost ten hours from the usual time of dinner until dawn, if his count is right.

He’s had longer marches, but none through a black forest, covered in mud, and only started after an already long day. Lost in his own thoughts, and still hazy from the shock of everything, it hadn’t really sunk in until now how tired he is. Or how much his muscles ache, overworked and sure to stiffen if he’s not careful.

Jason’s circling the small clearing, peering around at all the angles. The mud on the fur portions of his armor has dried stiff and brown, and there’s a bruise starting to show near the center of his forehead that the dirt there doesn’t really hide. He doesn’t look as tired as Dick feels, but there’s a stiffness to his shoulders that’s at least a little bit of a tell.

He stops after one last loop, hands coming to rest on his hips as he turns back to look at Dick. “Do you have anything on you? Weapons? Supplies?”

Dick pauses. His sword’s back at the camp somewhere; it was off his waist when they were attacked, just like his heavier armor. There were various supplies in his pack, but that was by his horse and that’s back there too. He’s got the clothes he’s in, his cloak, and… his knife. Not good for much except cutting meat or tangled stirrup straps, definitely no good against the swords pulled on him, so he hadn’t even thought about it.

He reaches back, finding where it’s tucked into the back of his belt — far enough off center to barely feel it in case he lands on his back — and pulling it free. “Just my knife.”

Jason looks at it when he holds it up, lips pressed tight together. “You know how to fight with that? Or throw it?” His hesitation probably says more than enough, because Jason’s mouth thins a little further. “Good to know.”

Dick tucks it away again, as Jason huffs out a breath, one hand lifting and raking back through his hair. It scrapes through mud too, which gets a grimace. The hand goes back to his hip.

“Okay,” Jason starts, gaze aimed loosely at the ground. “They’ll probably start tracking us soon, now that they’ve got the light to do so. We’ve got a good headstart on them, but not enough to get lenient. No food, water, weapons, or horses, all of which they’ll have, though the horses won’t speed them up much, going through woods this thick.” He squints up at the sky, frowning. “The wet ground’s going to make us easy to follow, but if we’re lucky it will rain again, which should wipe out most of our tracks. Can’t risk the smoke from a fire for now, though, which means there’s no point in trying to hunt right now either. Can’t cook it.”

“How do you know all this?” Dick breaks in, unable to help it any longer.

Jason’s squint turns on him. He looks bewildered. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, you’re an omega,” Dick points out.

“Yeah, we went through this already. So what?”

“Omegas don’t… do any of this.”

Jason frowns, still looking confused but also now a little irritated. “What do you mean ‘any of this’? Could you stop being vague?”

Dick thinks he’s making the same face as Jason, probably. “This!” he repeats, waving a hand in useless gesture at the trees and armor and just the _height_ of him. “Fighting, hunting, this… this leadership thing. Omegas don’t do that.”

Even under the dried mud, Dick can see Jason’s eyebrows lift towards his hairline. “What are you talking about? My job is to take care of my pack, make sure they’re safe. However I have to.”

“No,” Dick corrects emphatically, “That’s the alpha’s job.”

Jason now openly stares at him. “Since when?”

“Always! Alphas protect and provide, omegas care for the home and the—” A flush warms his cheeks, just a little bit. “The children.”

The air between them suddenly feels icy cold.

“The children,” Jason repeats flatly.

“Um,” Dick tries not to squirm at both his tone and the look he’s giving him, “yes.”

“And that’s how things are done in your country?”

“It’s the way things are done in every country,” Dick responds, then pauses. “... isn’t it?”

“Not where I’m from.” Jason says harshly, and Dick actually finds himself flinching back as he takes a step forward. “Where I’m from, omegas lead, alphas follow, and we all care for our children _together_.”

Dick winces again. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Jason narrows his eyes.

He isn’t sure, this isn’t something he’s ever had to explain before. It’s just the way things are. It’s what _is_. What always has been, at least so far as he knows.

“Of course alphas also care for their children where I’m from.” Dick fumbles to explain, “It’s just like I said, they’re also the leaders, protectors and providers. They have other duties, as well.”

“Duties they can’t share?”

"No! It's not right for omegas to be expected to help with war, or hunting. They're more fragile, they shouldn't have to go against their natures to fight."

It doesn't fully register how that sounds until Jason takes another step towards him, lip pulling back in a small snarl. "Do I look fucking fragile to you?" he asks, low and dangerous.

Dick stammers, not managing to find any real words before Jason cuts him off with a light shove of a hand to his chest. It's just enough to force one of his feet back to keep his balance, and Dick takes in a sharp breath when Jason follows, keeping the distance between them small and forcing him to tilt his chin up slightly to keep holding his gaze.

"It's not our nature, I promise you. If all your omegas are 'fragile,' it's because you taught them to be that way." Jason gives a brief, low growl, before adding, "And if you keep treating me like I'm weak just because I've got different parts than you, I'll make sure you learn that the hard way."

He feels like he should challenge that. There's a part of him that wants to. But the memory of their recent scuffle is too fresh in his mind for Dick to want to go again, and even the little adrenaline rush from Jason being in his face isn't enough to make him forget how tired he is, or how sore. He doesn't have the energy for another fight.

It's got nothing to do with that little wary part of his brain that says it might not be a good idea, trying again. He might not win.

"Sorry," he concedes, lowering his gaze and squishing that part of his brain that wants to challenge down where he can force himself to ignore it.

Jason watches him for a moment, then deliberately steps back and nods. "All right. Then of the two of us, I'm pretty sure I know more about avoiding being tracked, and traveling without drawing attention. If you've got suggestions or information, give it. Otherwise, work with me and I'll keep us alive. I've been dodging your people’s patrols for years, so, not much difference now. I can do it again."

Dick eyes Jason as he processes that. It's weird, and he feels like he should be offended, but at the same time he almost wants to laugh. Of all the people to be stuck on the run with, this might be one of his better options. A southern, omega barbarian that's apparently been running raids in his country for years. Okay then.

"Guess I'm in good hands," comes out of his mouth for some reason.

The edges of Jason's posture soften. Slowly. "I'll do my best. Promise." A deep breath, then exhalation. "Best thing we can do now is get a couple hours of sleep. They won't catch up to us that fast, and we need it if we're going to keep going."

"I can take first watch," he volunteers, mind flitting back to camped nights with his unit. He's done it often enough before; he can stay alert long enough for Jason to get some rest first.

But Jason shakes his head. "No. No watch. It should be safe for now, and we can get moving faster if we both sleep at once instead of trading off. Maybe I'll take you up on that later, though."

A look down at the ground makes Dick wince, just a little. It's not mud, like in the ditch, but the ground's definitely damp. It's not going to be comfortable.

He reaches up on automatic to undo the clasp of his cloak, gathering the fabric into his hands. The outside's got dried mud on it but the inside is still mostly clean; it'll work as a shield against the damp for one of them, at least. Maybe it's exactly what Jason just told him not to do, but he can't imagine letting Jason sleep straight on the ground while he uses the cloak. It just doesn't sit right in his chest.

He flicks the cloak out, letting it settle across the ground before he gestures to it. "Here. It'll help at least a little."

Jason seems to approve, by the small nod he gives, and how quickly he moves to drop down onto his knees on the spread of the fabric. Dick turns his gaze to the rest of the small clearing, trying to decide what will be the next best place to lie. There's not much variation in the fallen leaves, but maybe he can at least avoid lying straight on a root or something.

"Come on."

He looks back, and finds Jason holding a hand up to him, lying along just the back edge of the cloak. He blinks, staring.

"Come on," Jason repeats, waving the hand a little. "We haven't got time to waste. Come down here and get comfortable already."

Down there… next to Jason. _Right_ next to Jason.

"I um… We don't…” He swallows, clears his throat. "That would be really inappropriate."

Jason looks wholly unimpressed. "Well, we're not going to have a fire, and the sun's not even up yet so it's going to be cold. Get over yourself and get down here."

He has to take a deep breath, and then another, but he finally manages to make himself take Jason's hand and let himself get pulled down onto the cloak. Stiffly, and it's really hard to drop the last foot to lie down on his side, backed up as far as he can be and still be on the cloak. It's not as much distance as he'd like, but Jason just sighs and tugs, lightly, at the cloth on the top of his shoulder.

“Roll over,” he orders. Dick stiffens, and Jason rolls his eyes before he can even say anything. “You lying over there isn’t doing anything about the cold, and the last time you had your teeth near my neck you bit me. So roll over and come here. I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

Somehow, it’s the hardest thing he’s done all night. But Jason’s not wrong, and that fact is what makes him very cautiously turn over and shift backwards, until Jason presses up against his back. One arm lowers itself over his side.

He’s warm. Comfortingly so, despite Dick’s discomfort with the whole thing. Taller than him and long, his whole back gets the length of Jason pressed up against it. Breath stirs the hair on the back of his head, especially the heavier exhale that comes after Jason’s stopped moving.

“Get some rest,” Jason murmurs, the hand over his waist finding one of his hands and taking it. “I’ll wake you up if you need it.”

The gesture does odd things to Dick’s stomach, and he feels his face grow warm at the feeling of Jason’s fingers squeezing his own. “Okay,” he mutters, forcing himself to close his eyes as he tries to ignore the feeling. But as he breathes deep in an attempt to settle down to sleep, he gets an ever strong hint of Jason’s true scent below its covering tallow; not just spice, but something rich and thick, like honey sticking to the back of his throat.

Unintentionally, he finds himself focusing on it, wanting to detect every hidden note. The way it hits the innermost parts of him, while soothing away the aches he feels outside, until, somewhere between one slow breath and the next, his exhaustion finally catches up with him and he falls asleep.

 

* * *

 

Jason is thirsty when he wakes up. Hungry, too. But it’s the thirst that’s more acute and worrying. It’s been a long time since he last had something to drink, and now, after allowing himself a few hours to sleep, he can feel the consequences starting to make themselves known. In addition to the dry, parched feeling in his throat, there’s a low, painfully insistent throbbing in his head, too, urging him to find water as soon as possible before it gets worse.

Grimacing, he opens his eyes to look up at the sky. Judging by the position of the sun, he guess they’ve been asleep for maybe four hours, which to be honest is also probably about all they can afford. It’s definitely time to get up now.

Turning his attention back down to the alpha in his arms, Jason frowns a little. For all that he’d kicked up a fuss about sleeping next to him, Dick seems to have passed out pretty thoroughly. It’s almost a shame to wake him now, especially considering how much more agreeable he is to be with when he’s sleeping. No more stupid assumptions or arguments over whose right it is to do what, just soft, quiet vulnerability. It’s almost cute.

Almost.

“Hey,” Jason says, pushing the thought aside immediately before it can gain any more traction. “Hey, wake up.”

Dick groans at the sound of his voice, but instead of waking, only makes an attempt to hide his face in his arm. Sighing, Jason uses the hold he still has on the alpha’s hand to tug at him, while also raising his voice.

“C’mon, idiot, it’s not safe for us to sleep here any longer.”

That seems to do the trick, as Dick reluctantly turns his head back and opens his eyes. “Ow,” he mumbles, words slightly slurred. “My head.”

“I know,” Jason says. “We need to find some water, and fast.” Of course, in Dick’s case, the large bruise that’s formed on his face from their fight could also be lending itself to his pain, but he’s not about to bring that up.

Instead, he lets go of Dick’s hand, pushing himself to sit up, then climb back onto his feet. His back cracks as he does, and hissing at it, Jason reaches up to rub the back of his neck to try and ease some of the soreness there.

“You all right?” Dick asks him, struggling to follow suit.

“Just thirsty,” Jason answers. “C’mon, hurry up.”

Under his watch, Dick hurriedly stands up, then stoops back down to gather up his cloak. “How do we find water?”

“We head downhill, as much as we can,” Jason answers. “With how wet the weather’s been, there has to be some river or brook nearby.” Or at least a pond, but he’d rather avoid drinking from a still water source if he can.

Not waiting for Dick to acknowledge him, he starts walking, and is glad to hear that today there’s no hesitation in the footsteps following in his wake. They make slower progress now than they did last night, no longer fueled by adrenaline and with hunger and thirst weighing them down, but after a couple more hours of staggered walking, Jason hears and scents what it is he’s looking for.

Reaching back, he catches hold of Dick’s wrist to tug him forward at a slightly faster pace. They’re on a slight slope, weaving through trees so thick that they obscure anything further than a few feet in front of them, but Jason keeps pushing through, breaking through bushes and ferns with brute force while ducking under branches when he has to, until finally, _finally_ , they step through into open air with an expanse of rushing water in front of them.

“Oh, thank the gods,” Dick gasps, the moment he lays eyes on it, and Jason can’t help but wonder at how, for all his insistence that alphas and alphas alone are capable of leading and finding resources for the pack, he wasn’t aware they were coming up on it earlier. “I feel like I’m gonna die.”

Well, he’s at least as dramatic as any other alpha Jason’s met. “Shut up.” He rolls his eyes, continuing to pull him forward. “You’d have made it a couple more days yet.”

At the edge of the bank, he lets go of Dick’s wrist and kneels down, not hesitating to start scooping handfuls of cold water into his mouth. Dick on the other hand, goes straight for the option of lying down on his stomach and dunking his head into the water. If he weren’t so thirsty himself right now, Jason would probably start laughing at the display, that’s how ridiculous it is.

“Feeling better?” he asks when they’re both finished, at least for now.

“Nngh.” Dick rolls over onto his back. “Yes.”

His hair is wet from the river, glistening raven black over his forehead in sharp contrast to the rest of him, which is still covered in mud. Jason thinks about that for a moment, and his own similar state, before nodding and taking the topmost layer of his fur and leather coat off. “Good.”

It isn’t until he’s starting to remove the shirt underneath it, though, that Dick reacts.

“Whoa, whoa wait,” he says, sitting back up. “What are you doing?”

“Getting undressed,” Jason says, continuing to pull it over his head. When he can see again, Dick is pointedly looking away from him. “What?” He raises an eyebrow. “Is this another thing I’m not ‘supposed’ to do?”

“We’re not mated,” Dick mumbles. “It’s not appropriate for me to—”

Jason snorts, “You were perfectly happy to bite me despite us not being mated, yet you call this inappropriate? Your side really is messed up, pretty boy.”

“It’s not the same,” Dick protests.

“No, biting me was far more serious,” he replies darkly, feeling the spot on his neck itch for a moment. “Now stop being a baby and take your clothes off.”

“ _What_?” Dick chokes, voice suddenly high and reedy.

“You were complaining about me covering you in mud before, weren’t you?” Jason reaches to take his boots off next. “Well, here’s your chance to get clean again.”

“I… shouldn’t I… I’ll wait until you’re done first,” he says, still determinedly looking in the other direction.

Even so, Jason can see how the back of his neck has turned red. “We have time, but we don’t have that much time, Dick,” he says amusedly. “I don’t care if you see me naked, so just get on with it already.”

Now done with his boots, he starts unfastening his trousers.

“Do we have to get naked?” Dick says, almost pleadingly.

“The other option is walking around in wet clothes, so yes,” Jason answers, “we do. Relax; you're not the first alpha I've seen without their clothes on.”

“… Really?”

“Yes, really.” Sliding his trousers off, Jason folds them alongside his shirt and coat before standing up to wade into the water. It’s not at all warm, but in exchange for being clean, the discomfort will be worth it. Everything’s been cold since he started joining the groups watching their northern neighbours; he’s almost used to it. (Still doesn’t know how the people up here manage with just a couple layers of cloth, though.) “You’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“That’s…” He hears Dick sigh. “Fine. Just… try not to look, okay?”

Honestly, he’s more skittish than a newborn foal. “Fine,” Jason says. “If it’ll make you more comfortable, I’ll keep my eyes averted. Now, hurry up, ten minutes, in and out.”

Turning to face downstream, Jason crouches down in the water and starts to scrub himself clean with his hands. Upper body first, before dunking his head to get rid of the mud in his hair. On the riverbank, he can hear Dick divesting himself of his clothes finally as well, before a telltale splash announces that he, too, has now entered the river.

At first, Jason means to do as he said he would and not look at him, but despite all his big talk about already having seen enough naked alpha boys to not be surprised by anything, he can’t help but feel curiosity at Dick’s secretiveness. Perhaps he has some scar or mark that’s making him so shy, or maybe northern alphas really are different in some way from the ones he knows. Surely, one little glance won’t hurt…

Turning his head, Jason looks upstream, and while he doesn’t finding anything surprising in what he sees, he’s hard pressed to say that the view isn’t worth it.

Dick is attractive, something Jason has already acknowledged more than once already since they went on the run together, and not only to himself. With his black hair, dark blue eyes, and warm brown skin set over comely features and a delectable scent, ‘Pretty boy’ had been as much of an observance as an insult when it first slipped free of his lips. One that is even more justified now that he’s seeing Dick without any clothes on.

Every inch of him is lean muscle, with hardly any scars to mar his skin. Tracking his eyes down from his shoulders, Jason takes in the sight of the long expanse of Dick’s back, then his ass and thighs. Suffice to say, what he sees there is a memory that will stick with him for a good while yet.

“Are you, uh, done now?” Dick asks then, which might be the only reason Jason is able to look away as soon as he does.

“Yes,” he answers, keeping his voice steady as he moves to wade back to the river bank and retrieve his clothes. “I’m done. You?”

“Yeah. Just let me know when you’ve got your clothes back on.”

The word ‘cute’ floats back up to the forefront of Jason’s mind before he quickly dismisses it again. As efficiently as he can, he dries himself off with the clean side of Dick’s cloak before putting his own clothes back on, then calling to him, “I’m dressed. Used your cloak to dry off, you should do the same before you put the rest back on.”

“You— right, good idea.”

Jason combs his fingers through his hair as he listens to Dick come out of the water and get dressed behind him, doing his best to straighten it before it can dry in tangles. By the time he’s done, Dick is too, and then they’re ready to move on again.

“We’ll follow the river for a while,” Jason decides. “We could do with staying near a water source, since we don’t have any skins to carry our own in, and when we have some more distance between us and them, I can try fishing. We can go longer without food than we can water, but I’d rather not put that to the test if we don’t have to.”

“Fish how?” Dick asks, damp hair sitting in loose waves around his face as they start to walk. “We don’t have a pole, or a net.”

“There’s plenty of sticks round here, I’ll use your knife to make one into a spear.”

“Oh.”

No arguments? That’s a pleasant relief. Jason at least expected him to ask if they couldn’t fish right now with his previous behavior, but apparently Dick has finally wised up from that and come to trust in his decisions. Thank the gods, because he’s too hungry to be getting in any more fights now.

For a while, they walk in silence again, with nothing more than birdsong accompanying them. It would almost be pleasant, were it not for the knowledge they’re being pursued by enemies constantly sitting in the back of his mind.

Then Dick asks, “Why do omegas lead among your people?”

Jason tenses on reflex, readying for another fight, before it registers that Dick’s tone isn’t actually aggressive, just curious. He looks back, judging his expression and finding it much the same. It looks like it’s an honest question. A question he hasn’t really thought about since he was still being taught by the elders of his town's pack, but it’s ingrained so deep in his mind he doesn’t think he could forget it if he tried.

“Omegas are more deeply tied to the heart of the pack,” he says first, echoing what he remembers being said to him. “We were granted the power to create life by the Mother of All, and with that came the responsibility to protect it. We were made in the Mother’s image. Omegas lead because the pack is our family, and a true leader’s choices should be driven by the desire to keep their pack safe, no matter what. There’s no instinct more powerful than a mother’s.”

Not to mention, alphas are far too hot headed to be trusted when it comes to making important decisions. The aggression and passion that resides at their core is always valuable when it comes to a fight, but too often a hindrance anywhere else where a level head is needed.

Dick frowns. “That’s not what our priests say about the Mother.”

Jason stops walking, now curious himself. “No? What do they say?”

“That the Mother is the caretaker of the den, the healer; she cares for the young and the wounded. She’s the one you pray to for health and children.” Dick shifts his weight a little. “But it’s the Father who is the protector, the warrior and the shield. He has the wisdom and the strength to keep the pack safe and leads because of it.”

Jason feels his eyes narrow. "The Father is the supporter of the Mother.”

Dick’s mouth opens, then shuts, like he was about to say something he just in time realised that Jason wouldn’t like. Evidently reconsidering it, he starts again, with what is likely more diplomatic wording, “I was always told it was the other way around. That the Mother supports the Father, obeying his will without question.”

Obedient? The Mother? Jason doesn’t know whether to laugh or snarl. “Without question, like a slave?”

“No!” Dick quickly seems to realise his mistake. “Out of respect, loyalty, love.”

Jason shakes his head. "Yeah, well, where I'm from respect doesn't mean you just follow someone blindly. Just because you love someone doesn't mean they're always right." He starts walking forward again. “You really telling me you’d never listen to another non-alpha member of your pack if they disagreed with you?”

If so, the north is even more of a messed up place than he thought.

“Of course I would,” Dick says at once. “My caretaker and my brother aren’t alphas, neither are many of my friends; I’d never just dismiss them for not agreeing with me.”

“Then why are you spouting that shit at me like you believe it?”

“I…” Dick trails off, then with more uncertainty continues, “... it’s just what the priests say.”

“Sounds to me like you need to get some new priests, then. Ones who actually know the real stories about the Mother.”

This time, Dick’s tone is absolutely aggressive. “Our stories _are_ real. Why? What are yours?”

Jason turns his head back again to look at him. “That she stands against evil, and slaughters any who dare come for her pack and her children.”

“She…” Dick stumbles over a stray tree root. “What?”

“I told you,” Jason answers, watching just long enough to make sure he doesn’t fall. “She’s the one who keeps the pack safe, protects it, with the help of the Father. She’s where all omegas get their strength from.”

“But… the Mother’s gentle, she doesn’t kill people.”

“The Mother in your stories may not, but the one in ours most certainly does.” Jason considers Dick’s continued look of disbelief for a moment. “Look, if you really want to know, I can tell you some of our stories about her properly, but only if you swear to listen and not interrupt me until I’m done.”

It’s not like they don’t have the time for it, since the only other thing they’re doing right now and for the presumable future is walking, and Jason’s always loved stories, both hearing and telling them. His own mother used to tell him he had a gift for it, back before she died, and it’s one of those memories he’s always held close to his heart ever since.

“You can tell me some of your own, too, if you want,” he continues, as a peace offering, though in truth he has very little desire to hear whatever butchered versions of their tales Dick was raised on. But then again, maybe he’ll learn something of use about him and his people in exchange. Maybe. “Fair is fair, after all.”

“Sure,” Dick says, after a moment. “Okay, if you swear the same.”

Jason nods. “I swear.”

“All right, then, go ahead. I’m listening.”

Looking back ahead, Jason thinks for a moment, sorting through all the different tales in which the Mother plays a central role that he knows, before starting to talk in the same easy cadence he’d use were he speaking to any of the children back at home. It’s comforting, to do something that reminds him of it when he’s stuck so far away on what might possibly be a suicide mission to save the rest of his group with an enemy alpha’s help, and while they walk along the river bank with the sun shining down on them, he almost believes it may actually work, too.

Just so long as Dick continues to listen.

**Author's Note:**

> [Firefright's tumblr](https://firefrightfic.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [Skalidra's tumblr](https://skalidra.tumblr.com/)


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